January 4th 1970

Okay, I was doing pretty bad. I was a shell of a person. If you read my writings from this time, you would see everything was dark. I wanted to die. My parents thought that a change would be good, by moving to another church. I didn't want to go. They gave me a choice. If I didn't like the new church after 3 months, I could go back to my rowdy friends. I agreed. I was 16. A juvenile delinquent. We joined the new church on January 4, 1970. I only knew one other person my age. All the other kids went to different schools than me. The girl I knew invited me to youth choir that met that afternoon. I had sung in the choir at my old church, so I said okay. I would be there. That afternoon, my life changed. To say I was born again is not quite right. I was reborn. That day became my 2nd birthday. What happened? There were kids there who accepted me for who I was. They said I was worth something. They wanted to be my friend with no strings attached. The veil had lifted. No longer did I live in the dark. No longer did I want to die. They gave me a purpose. If I had not gone there that day, I would be dead today. No question. We were inseparable for two years. Thanks to Pam, Sonny, Tommy, James, Gail, Lawson, Karen, Debbie, Vonda, Lelia, David, Rhett, Rodney, and the rest for saving me. I suppose one could make the case that God used those people to get to me and turn me around. But, without them, I would have been dead. The moral to the story is never underestimate the impact you are going to have in one's life. They showed me that I had talent. Talents that I would use later. I will talk about that talent next time, but for now just know that little things can change lives.